Memorial Weekend will launch a costly summer as gas prices soar and inflation jumps to its highest in three years.
Inflation in the United States is up 3.8% from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It hasn’t been that high since 2023, and the primary driver is energy costs. Gas prices have been rising since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February. Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil transportation that has rocked the global supply.
Approximately 1.7 million Ohioans are expected to travel 50 miles or more over the holiday weekend, and in true Midwestern fashion, 1.5 million are expected to do so by car, according to AAA. That’s even with Ohio’s average gas price at $4.76 per gallon as of May 21.
Fuel tracker website GasBuddy is forecasting the “most expensive summer ever” at the pump this year if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a social media post that the U.S. could see national average gas prices exceed their 2022 record, when Russia first invaded Ukraine.
As of May 21, the national average was $4.56, according to AAA. This time last year, the national average was $3.18 per gallon. In Ohio, the average was $2.98 in 2025.
Americans have spent $40 billion more on fuel in 2026 because of the Iran War, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning nonprofit think tank. Ohioans have spent an extra $1.3 billion.
Over the Memorial Day weekend alone, the institute said, Americans will spend an extra $3.5 billion. Ohioans will spend an extra $143 million because of price increases after the war began.
Uncertainty plagues Americans’ pocketbooks
There is currently no end in sight for the war in Iran, and therefore no end in sight to high gas prices, according to industry experts.
In comments to reporters outside the White House on May 19, Trump said Americans’ financial struggles were “peanuts” when compared to the notion of Iran having a nuclear weapon, adding that spiking prices would not last “much longer,” USAToday reported.
Earlier this month, Ohio hit record diesel prices. Some Ohio lawmakers are proposing a gas tax reduction to ease costs for consumers.
Rising oil costs are also disrupting supply chains, making transporting goods more expensive as well as increasing fertilizer prices, which is hiking up Americans’ grocery bills.
In April, at-home food prices rose 2.9% compared to April 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Health care is also getting more expensive. Insurance premiums in the public marketplace have spiked due to federal funding cuts, but private insurance premiums have gone up, too. Drug prices are also as a factor, as well as rising cancer rates and market consolidation.
Americans’ paychecks aren’t keeping up with a growing affordability crisis. Wages only increased 3.6% in April over the last year, compared to 3.8% inflation.
Business and consumer issues reporter Samantha Hendrickson can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ‘Most expensive summer’ to follow holiday with near record gas prices
Reporting by Samantha Hendrickson, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
